ARCH ALERT August 25 2005 ARCH: A Legal Resource Centre for Persons with Disabilities 425 Bloor St. E. Ste. 110 Toronto, Ontario M4W 3R5 Tel.: 416-482-8255 Toll-free: 1-866-482-2724 Fax: 416-482-2981 Toll-free: 1-866-881-2723 TTY: 416-482-1254 Toll-free: 1-866-482-2728 www.archlegalclinic.ca INSIDE THIS ISSUE - ARCH Celebrates 25 Years at AGM - ARCH Board Seeking New Members - Tell Us Why ARCH Is Important to You - Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities - Act Becomes Law; Accessibility Standards to Be Developed - New Funding Available to Support Persons with Disabilities in the Community - A Review of Ontario's Human Rights Complaint Process - Consultation on Human Rights and Family Status in Ontario - How to Help Make the Ontario Justice System Accessible - Social Development Canada Holds Online Consultation - Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation Asks for Your Ideas - Safe Schools Update - Making the Toronto Subway More Accessible - Graduate Students Study Community - Treatment Orders, Living in Bloorview - ARCH AGM & Anniversary Invitation ARCH Celebrates 25 Years at AGM by Theresa Sciberras, Administrative Assistant In 1980, ARCH opened its doors to provide legal services to persons with disabilities in Ontario. In 2005, we are celebrating our 25th Anniversary. We welcome you to attend our AGM and our 25th Anniversary Celebration. Minister Sandra Pupatello, in her new appointment as Minister Responsible for Ontarians with Disabilities will be among other special guests to give greetings. The evening will continue with dinner, entertainment, a celebration of ARCH's history and plenty of mingling amongst new and familiar colleagues and friends. The AGM, which is taking place on Thursday October 6th at the Toronto Marriott Bloor Yorkville will commence at 5:30 p.m. with the 25th Anniversary Celebration following at 6:30 p.m. Sign language interpreters, real-time captioning, and attendant care will be provided. Please let us know if you require accommodations other than these, or have specific dietary needs. To ensure availability of space, it is imperative that you RSVP to us. Contact Theresa Sciberras at ARCH (scibert@lao.on.ca). ARCH Board Seeking New Members The ARCH Nominations Committee is asking you if you would like to be nominated to the ARCH Board of Directors or would like to suggest others who may be interested. The ARCH Board is composed of thirteen directors who serve two-year terms. Our By- law provides that a majority of the members must be persons with disabilities and a majority must be individuals who come from an ARCH member organization. Directors may be re-elected for subsequent terms. As six members are currently mid- term, we will be nominating a total of seven members this year. We are looking for individuals who are committed to defending and advancing the equality-rights of persons with disabilities and in providing leadership and support to ARCH's staff, who fulfil our mandate on a dally basis. In addition to this commitment, we are looking for people with an interest in fundraising. We would also like to continue our practice of having board members from around the province, as ARCH is a provincial organization. If you would like to volunteer on the ARCH Board or can suggest others who could make a valuable contribution to it, please contact ARCH Nominations Committee, c/o Theresa Sciberras, Administrative Assistant, ARCH at 425 Bloor Street East, Ste. 110, Toronto, Ontario M4W 3R5, Fax: 416-482-2981 or Toll- free Fax: 1-866-881-2723 or by e-mail at scibert@lao.on.ca. *** Tell Us Why ARCH Is Important to You By Angie Wynn and Joanna Leong, Summer Students As part of ARCH's celebration of its 25 years of community involvement, we are printing a booklet. This booklet will include people's stories about what ARCH has meant to them and to the disability community. If you have a story about how ARCH has made a difference that you would like to share, please e-mail your story, on or before September 9th, to Roberto Lattanzio at lattanr@lao.on.ca. Any and all submissions are welcome! We will print as many of the stories as we can. We will save all of the stories in our library as part of ARCH's history. ARCH will give copies of the commemorative booklet to everyone who attends our Annual General Meeting ("AGM") and 25th anniversary party on 6 October. For more details about the AGM and party, see the article on the front page of this issue of ARCH Alert, and the notice on the last page of this issue. *** Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Becomes Law; Accessibility Standards to Be Developed By Heidi Lazar-Meyn, Staff Lawyer Photo of Julian Grasso, son of ARCH Board Chairperson Kathie Brooks, discusses disability issues with Premier Dalton McGuinty at AODA reception. On 13 June 2005 the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act ("AODA") received Royal Assent. This means that the AODA is now the law in Ontario. But this is only the beginning of making Ontario fully accessible to persons with disabilities. The AODA states that this goal is to be met by 2025. To meet the goal, the government of Ontario, the disability community and private and public sector organizations must work together to develop accessibility standards. These standards will become regulations under the AODA. Each stage of a standard must be met in five years or less. There are penalties for not complying with the standards. ARCH is pleased that the Ontario government has promised that the Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2001, which applies to Ontario government ministries and public sector organizations, will remain in effect until standards for those sectors are developed under the AODA. In the recent Cabinet shuffle, Sandra Pupatello, Minister of Community and Social Services and Minister Responsible for Women's Issues, also was named Minister Responsible for Ontarians with Disabilities, which includes responsibility for the AODA. The first step in setting standards under the AODA is for Minister Pupatello to appoint an Accessibility Standards Advisory Council ("ASAC") to advise her on how to develop accessibility standards, the progress made by standards development committees, accessibility reports, public education programs and other matters. The province has advertised for ASAC members, and ARCH expects that Minister Pupatello will make appointments soon. Members will come from both the public and the private sectors. The majority of members must be people with disabilities. ARCH expects that the province soon will be advertising for persons to become members of the AODA standards development committees. We will publish more information about these committees in future issues of ARCH Alert. *** New Funding Available to Support Persons with Disabilities in the Community By Jodi Kaiman, Summer Student The Ontario government recently has increased the amount of funding available to support persons with disabilities in the community. - $59 million has been granted to fund supports for adults with developmental disabilities. On 15 July 2005, Minister of Community and Social Services Sandra Pupatello said that the government wants to help families support family members who have a developmental disability by expanding community-based services, improving care and substantially cutting waiting lists for more than 2,000 people waiting for support. The $59 million will be divided as follows: - $8.5 million of this funding will go to the Special Services at Home (SSAH) program, which gives money directly to persons who live at home with their families. The Ministry of Community and Social Services (MCSS) says that this additional money will shorten the waiting list for SSAH funds by 85 per cent. - $9.4 million will go to the Passport to Community Living program, which will provide daytime programs for young persons who have just left school. Passport to Community Living also will fund the Foundations programs and other supports which help young adults make the transition from school to community activities and work. - $25.9 million will be given to community agencies to support people who need immediate care. This money will help the agencies to provide services that no longer can be provided by the child welfare system, or by a person's parents. - $15.1 million will be given to community agencies so that they can run better. MCSS says that the agencies can use these funds for purposes such as paying employee wages, improving safety and security, paying utility bills, and improving client care. - $10 million in funding has been made available to help children and youth with severe special needs. According to Marie Bountrogianni, who was then Minister of Children and Youth Services, this money is to help families who are experiencing a crisis and to provide specialized supports where they are needed the most. The Ministry of Children and Youth Services (MCYS) announced this funding on 27 June 2005. MCYS has not given any details on how families can apply for these funds, or what programs will receive funds. ARCH wrote to MCYS and asked for more information. We are waiting for answers to our questions, and will share them with you in a future issue of ARCH Alert. - On 19 July 2005 the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) announced that $112.7 million of new funding will be made available for home care and community support services. Minister George Smitherman said that this new investment should allow an additional 54,000 Ontarians to receive care in their home or community. The funding will be divided as follows: - $87.9 million for home care services. These include personal support and homemaking, nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech language therapy, social work and dietetic services. MOHLTC says that these services will help to keep 45,100 more people than last year from having to go into hospital. - $24.9 million for community support services. These include adult day programs, meal programs, community transportation and assisted living services in supportive housing for persons over 16 years old. MOHLTC says that these services will allow 9,000 more people than last year to live in the community, rather than in institutions. - On 29 July 2005 MOHLTC announced that an additional $5.6 million in funds will be used to help persons with acquired brain injuries receive support services close to home. ARCH is encouraged that the Ontario government recognizes the importance of supporting persons with disabilities so that they can stay in their homes and become productive members of their communities. *** A Review of Ontario's Human Rights Complaint Process By Heidi Lazar-Meyn, Staff Lawyer and Tess Sheldon, Staff Lawyer Under the Ontario Human Rights Code, everyone has an equal right to get services and goods, use facilities, live in housing, get a job, belong to an association and make a contract, without discrimination because of disability. Persons who believe that they have been discriminated against in any of these ways can file a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission ("Commission"). The Commission investigates the complaint, and can send it to mediation, send it to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario ("Tribunal") or decide not to deal with it. As reported in the 18 October 2004 issue of ARCH Alert, the Commission has cut back on the help that it used to give people in drafting their complaints. Once a person files a complaint, it may take years for the Commission to process the complaint. Most complaints are rejected or settled. Very few complaints are referred to the Tribunal for hearing. Many human rights advocates believe that the complaint process needs to be changed to make it more accessible and useful to complainants. On 14 January 2005, lawyers from legal aid clinics, the private bar, the federal Human Rights Tribunal, law school professors and students and former members of the Commission and Tribunal met to discuss how the complaint process could be made better. The Ontario government sent observers to this symposium, and held Human Rights Listening Sessions this spring, in which ARCH and other stakeholders participated. On August 23, 2005, the Commission announced that it will conduct a public review of the province's human rights system. The Commission called upon Ontarians to participate in this review. In order to facilitate public discussion, the Commission has prepared a Questionnaire for interested individuals to share their thoughts of and experiences with Ontario's human rights system. If you or your organization would like to tell the Commission about your experience, you can find the Questionnaire online at: http://www.ohrc.on.ca/english/consultations/h uman-rights-review-discussion- questionnaire.shtml. The questionnaire will be posted on the Commission's web site from 23 August 2005 until 16 September 2005. In addition, the Commission has written a Discussion Paper entitled Reviewing Ontario's Human Rights System. The Discussion Paper outlines the role of human rights commissions and key principles of an effective human rights system. The Discussion Paper is available online: http://www.ohrc.on.ca/english/consultations/h uman-rights-review-discussion-paper.shtml. In addition, the Discussion Paper further details the consultation process. The Commission will publish the results of the public review in the fall of 2005. The Attorney General has committed to develop a blueprint for human rights reform in the province by the winter of 2005. Please watch upcoming issues of ARCH Alert for new information about the Commission's review. *** Consultation on Human Rights and Family Status in Ontario By Tess Sheldon, Staff Lawyer The Ontario Human Rights Code ("Code") prohibits discrimination on the basis of family status in the areas of employment, housing and services. Section 10 of the Code defines "family status" narrowly, as "the status of being in a parent and child relationship". This section of the Code has been held to protect the rights of people in other relationships that are like parent and child relationships, such as if a grandparent or a guardian lives with and takes care of the child. But there are many other important family relationships that are not protected by the Code. For example, the Code does not prohibit an employer from refusing to hire a person just because he or she is the spouse of another person, or an apartment owner from refusing to rent an apartment to people who are not all in the same family of parents and children. The Commission has prepared a Questionnaire for family members to share their experiences of how their family relationships affect access to employment, housing and services. With the help of these stories, the Commission will identify further human rights issues related to family status. If you would like to tell the Commission about your experience, you can find the Questionnaire online at: www.ohrc.on.ca/english/consultations/family- status-discussion-questionaire.shtml. The deadline for submissions is 31 August 2005. In addition, the Commission has written a Discussion Paper entitled Human Rights and the Family in Ontario. The Discussion Paper outlines key issues and examples, and asks questions to help guide further consultation. If you wish to make a submission based on the Discussion Paper, it is available online at: www.ohrc.on.ca/english/consultations/family- status-discussion-paper.shtml. The deadline for submissions on the issues raised by the Discussion Paper has been extended to 31 August 2005. ARCH is making a submission to the Commission on the issues raised by the Discussion Paper. Our submission will include the following points: - People who are family members of people with disabilities often face discrimination based on family status. - The definition of "family status" should be expanded to include a broader range of relationships, such as where a family member is providing long-term care for an adult sibling with a disability. - Employers must accommodate employees with care-giving responsibilities for family members with disabilities. - Family members have difficulty getting supports and services, such as home care and childcare, that accommodates the needs of the family member with a disability. - Persons with disabilities who receive Direct Funding to meet their attendant service requirements, may not hire immediate family members - parents, children, siblings, spouses or the equivalent. ARCH's submission will be posted in the law reform section of our website, http://www.archlegalclinic.ca/aboutARCH/law Reform/index.asp. *** How to Help Make the Ontario Justice System Accessible By Heidi Lazar-Meyn, Staff Lawyer Dealing with the justice system as a witness, litigant, defendant or juror can be very stressful. For persons with disabilities, there can be extra stress because of lack of accessibility and accommodation in the justice system. Lawyers, court personnel and judges who work in the justice system face many of the same accessibility and accommodation issues every day. To address this problem, Ontario Chief Justice R. Roy McMurtry has set up a Committee on Accessibility to the Justice System of Persons with Disabilities ("Committee"). The Committee includes lawyers and persons who work for the Law Society of Upper Canada and the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General. The purpose of the committee is to identify steps that can be taken to accommodate persons with disabilities in using Ontario's justice system. The Committee is asking people to send them examples of barriers that keep persons with disabilities from fully participating in the justice system, and suggestions of accommodations that fix or get rid of those barriers. If you would like to make a submission, you can e-mail it to: disabilitybarriers@jus.gov.on.ca or mail it to: Committee on Accessibility to the Justice System of Persons with Disabilities Attention: Ms. Charlene Attardo Osgoode Hall 130 Queen Street West Toronto, ON M5H 2N5 The deadline for submissions is 1 September 2005. ARCH is making a submission to the Committee. Our submission includes accessibility and accommodation issues such as: - Making courtrooms fully accessible to persons with mobility impairments - Providing sign language interpretation services to Deaf persons - Requiring court documents to be in an electronic format so that they can be made accessible to persons who cannot read printed material - Training court personnel about communicating with persons who use augmentative and alternative communication - Starting from the assumption that all persons have the intellectual capacity to participate fully in the justice system - Reviewing court procedures for attitudinal barriers ARCH's submission will be posted on the law reform section of our website, http://www.archlegalclinic.ca/aboutARCH/law Reform/index.asp *** Social Development Canada Holds Online Consultation By Heidi Lazar-Meyn, Staff Lawyer Minister of Social Development Ken Dryden has been talking to members of the disability community to learn about important disability issues. In order to learn from as many people as possible, Social Development Canada (SDC) has set up an online consultation about persons with disabilities. SDC says that the stories and ideas that people send in will help them in their work to make sure that persons with disabilities are full members of their communities. The direct link to the online consultation is: http://sdc- dsc.dialoguecircles.com/Default.aspx?DN=52 0,32,Documents. There are further links at the website which let you choose different ways to participate. You can give your name or be anonymous. You can share your stories and ideas with SDC researchers, and if you want, with other visitors to the website. You also can complete a consultation workbook. The workbook includes stories about barriers to full participation in society in these areas: - Supports and services - Physical accessibility and accessible information - Funding - Dealing with government programs - Attitudes The workbook asks questions about how important it is for the Government of Canada to act on each type of barrier. The workbook also asks what businesses should do about accessibility. If you prefer to put your thoughts on paper, you can print out a workbook from the website. Paper workbooks should be mailed to: Public Involvement Team 355 North River Road, Tower B, 6th floor Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0L1 or faxed to 613.957.4400. Please put "Attn: Online Consultation" on the cover page of your fax. The consultation will be available online until October 2005. *** Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation Asks for Your Ideas By Heidi Lazar-Meyn, Staff Lawyer As a follow-up to their "Reactivate Toronto" program, the Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division of the City of Toronto ("PFRD") is inviting persons with disabilities, and their family members and caregivers, to meet with recreation staff. The meetings are to discuss the PFRD's Adapted and Integrated Programs and Services and how they can improve delivery of these services. The PFRD especially want advice on: - Creating more welcoming environments - Improving accessibility of indoor and outdoor facilities - Developing new program ideas - Increasing employment opportunities for persons with disabilities These consultations will be held at various places around Toronto, on 25 August from 8 September through 27 September 2005. Each meeting lasts for three hours and refreshments will be served. Sign language interpreters and attendant care will be available. PFRD asks that you tell them at least nine days before the meeting that you plan to attend if you want these services. To find out more information and to request services, please contact Chris Ram at: Telephone: 416.394.8531 TTY: 416.394.8534 e-mail: cram@toronto.ca *** Safe Schools Update By Roberto Lattanzio, Staff Lawyer In July 2005, the Ontario Human Rights Commission ("Commission") started its own complaint against the Ontario Ministry of Education and the Toronto District School Board. The Commission alleges that the Safe Schools Act ("Act") and related school policies are applied in a way that discriminates against students with disabilities, as well as students from racialized communities. Minister of Education Gerard Kennedy has told the media that the Ontario government will examine whether the Act works the way that it was meant to do. He added that there will be public hearings on the Act this autumn. ARCH will monitor this complaint and report on developments in a future issue of ARCH Alert. *** Making the Toronto Subway More Accessible By Marcia Cummings, National Secretary, Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians In 1994 David Lepofsky, a transit rider and lawyer who is blind, complained to the Toronto Transit Commission ("TTC") that subway operators did not announce all of the station stops. Although TTC management promised in 1995 that operators would call all subway stops to aid transit riders who are blind or partially sighted, it took a hearing before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario ("Tribunal"), ten years later, to accomplish the task. Over the past ten years, there has been little consistency in stops being called. Riders who are blind or partially sighted had to count stops or find other means of keeping track of where they were. In 2001, Mr. Lepofsky decided that enough was enough, and filed a formal complaint against the TTC with the Ontario Human Rights Commission. His complaint finally was heard at the Tribunal this spring. I was there for the first day of his testimony about the unreliability of the TTC operators in announcing subway stops. He referred to TTC reports which showed that stops were being announced only 57 per cent to 88 per cent of the time. The TTC replied that it was doing what it promised in 1995-calling subway stops. The TTC said that it had not promised to call every stop every time that a train entered or left a station. I wished that I could have added my own experiences to the proceedings, as I had also been frustrated by the lack of consistency in station stop announcements over the past 10 years. I estimate that stops were being called 50 per cent of the time. This is not acceptable, in my view. If 50 per cent of the signs showing station names were removed on a random basis, sighted passengers would not stand for it. At the end of the final arguments, Alvin Rosenberg, Q.C., the Tribunal adjudicator, surprised and amazed me by announcing that the TTC had failed in its duty to accommodate people who are blind or have a visual impairment for more than ten years, and that it was unfair to have the problem corrected only after he issued his decision later this year. To avoid delay, he issued an interim order that the TTC had to announce each subway stop clearly and consistently. He made it clear that he would accept no less, and that TTC employees could be fired if the announcements are not made. The Tribunal has since issued another interim order naming Matthew Garfield, former chair of the Tribunal, as the monitor who will make sure that the TTC follows the Tribunal's orders. Mr. Garfield will work with TTC personnel in planning training seminars for subway operators and in designing programs to keep track of how often subway stops are announced. Although there is no guarantee that things will improve overnight, we hope that the Tribunal's decision will lead to making the Toronto subway system much more accessible and easy to ride in the near future. Editor's note: You can find the Tribunal's interim orders in Lepofsky v. Toronto Transit Commission at: http://www.hrto.ca/english/decisions/2005%2 0HRTO%2020.pdf and http://www.hrto.ca/english/decisions/2005%2 0HRTO%2021.pdf To get the interim orders in Word format, replace the letters "pdf" in the above links by "doc". *** Graduate Students Study Community Treatment Orders, Living in Bloorview By Heidi Lazar-Meyn, Staff Lawyer Two graduate students are looking for persons to interview during August 2005. They are doing research studies on disability issues as part of their master's degree programs. One study is about psychiatric survivors' experiences of community treatment orders ("CTOs") and the other is about growing up at the Bloorview MacMillan Children's Centre. If you choose to participate in either study, your name and the fact that you have been interviewed will be kept confidential. You will get a written copy of what you said at the interview. You can decide at any time that you no longer want to be part of either study, without penalty. Here is further information about the studies: - CTO study Erick Fabris is a community worker who is studying at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. He wants to interview community workers, service providers and activists who have spoken with or worked on behalf of psychiatric survivors who are on CTOs. If you are interested in more information, please call Mr. Fabris at: 416-767-6777 or e- mail him at e.fabris@sympatico.ca. - Bloorview study Tracy Odell is a graduate student in Atkinson College/York University's Critical Disability Studies program. She lived in Bloorview from age 7 to age 18. Ms. Odell wants to interview people who are more than 18 years old and who lived in Bloorview in the 1960s, 1970s, and/or 1980s. If you are interested in more information, please e-mail Ms. Odell at tracyo@yorku.ca or call her at 416-289-2244. *** ARCH ALERT is published by ARCH: A Legal Resource Centre for Persons with Disabilities. It is distributed free via e-mail, fax, or mail to ARCH member groups, community legal clinics, and others with an interest in disability issues. ARCH is a non-profit community legal clinic, which defends and promotes the equality rights of persons with disabilities through litigation, law/policy reform and legal education. ARCH is governed by a Board of Directors elected by representatives of member groups reflecting the disability community. The goal of ARCH ALERT is to provide concise information, so that people are aware of important developments and resources. Articles may be copied or reprinted to share with others provided that they are reproduced in their entirety and that the appropriate credit is given. We encourage those who receive it to assist with distribution of information in this way. We do ask that both Word and Text Formats are distributed to ensure accessibility. Charitable Reg. #118777994RR01. Editor: Heidi Lazar-Meyn Reference Centre Co-ordinator: Lishanthi Caldera Production & Circulation: Theresa Sciberras We welcome your comments and questions, as well as submissions. We will endeavour to include all information of general interest to the community of persons with disabilities and their organizations, but reserve the right to edit or reject material if necessary. We will advise you if your submission is to be edited or rejected. Please assist us in your submissions by being brief and factual. Please address communications regarding ARCH ALERT to: Theresa Sciberras, Administrative Assistant, ARCH: A Legal Resource Centre for Persons with Disabilities, 425 Bloor St. E., Suite 110, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3R5, fax: 416-482-2981, TTY: 416-482- 1254, e-mail: scibert@lao.on.ca Website: www.archlegalclinic.ca ARCH AGM & ANNIVERSARY INVITATION Please join us for ARCH: A Legal Resource Centre for Persons with Disabilities 25th Anniversary Celebration On Thursday, October 6, 2005 Toronto Marriott Bloor Yorkville 90 Bloor Street East Yorkville Room Annual General Meeting 5:30 p.m. 25th Anniversary Celebration 6:30 p.m. (Dinner will be provided) All Guests MUST RSVP to Theresa Sciberras, email: scibert@lao.on.ca Tel.: 416-482-8255 or 1-866-482-2724 Fax: 416-482-2981 or 1-866-482-2728 TTY: 416-482-1254 or 1-866-482-2723 Please Note: Sign language interpreters, real-time captioning and attendant services will be provided. If you require accommodations other than these, or have specific dietary needs, please contact Theresa Sciberras at ARCH. ARCH - A LEGAL RESOURCE CENTRE FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES 425 Bloor Street East, Suite 110 (416) 482-8255 (Main) 1 (866) 482-ARCH (2724) (Toll Free) Toronto, Ontario M4W 3R5 (416) 482-1254 (TTY) 1 (866) 482-ARCT (2728) (Toll Free) www.archlegalclinic.ca (416) 482-2981 (Fax) 1 (866) 881-ARCF (2723) (Toll Free)